In this post:
Why to develop the skill of taking a heart rate
How to take a heart rate
How to take a pulse
An out-of-town friend calls me - panicked. Her dog is in respiratory distress. His breathing is extremely labored, and even through the phone, I can hear the effort his abdomen has to put forth to force the air out of his lungs. With his head hung low, all of his might is focused upon the simple acts of keeping his legs beneath his body and breathing, he muster nothing else. This dog is in bad shape, and she can’t get him to see his veterinarian for over an hour.
Through the anxiety, I learned that this type of event had happened before. However, by the time he was evaluated by a vet, the episode had passed, diagnostics proved normal, and thus, no answer for it could be provided. With little to work with, the doctor’s recommendation at that point was referral to a university for a cardiopulmonary work-up with a specialist. Not only was this impossible financially, but the state vet school hospital was booked for several months and could not see the poor dog in time to make a difference.
I asked my friend to sit down next to her dog, give him some comforting scratches, and take his heart rate. While I could be sure her’s was off the charts, knowing his amidst this event would be a key piece to the puzzle of the underlying problem. That number could help determine if his disease was stemming from a primary heart condition OR a respiratory/lung issue. It could provide useful information to her local veterinarian, help achieve a timely diagnosis, and ultimately, relieve this dog’s (and the poor owner’s) suffering sooner than later.
The bewildered woman just could not. While taking a heart rate is reflexive for someone like me, I quickly appreciated that it was too much to ask her to learn in an already fretful moment.
I share the above account as a prologue to this encouragement to you: learn how to take your animals’ heart rate. Do it when you’re relaxed, when your animal is relaxed, and you can practice doing right. Repeatedly.
I say “animal” rather than “dog” here because this ever-so-straightforward technique can be used to measure a heart rate on many of your domestic mammals that have a similar chest and hind-leg anatomy - cats, rabbits, goats, sheep, etc. There are more efficient methods for determining the heart rate of larger stock, such as pigs, cattle, and horses.
An emergency situation, like the one I’ve just relayed, is only one of several reasons to learn this simple skill. Let me break down just a few more, some of which Charlotte and I also touch on in the video…
“White Coat” syndrome. Also known as “They Hate Going to the Vet” syndrome. Your animal is as calm as it will ever be when it is in its happy place, at home - thus, their heart rate will also be as accurate as it will ever be at home.
Transient events. Some diseases only demonstrate their behavior in an episodic manner. And I cannot tell you how often an owner has pled that their dog was doing one thing at home, and looks completely different now that they’re in front of the vet. Your competency with taking your animal’s vitals amid an episode can mean that you provide very important data to your vet that they would not have otherwise obtained.
Monitor ongoing conditions. Suppose your dog has a common, old-age disease such as congestive heart failure or a cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). In addition to respiratory (breathing) rates, resting heart rates are important tools for monitoring a dog’s response to treatments and can help guide adjustments of therapies.
Know normal…so you know when it’s not. I’ve said it before and it bears repeating - without knowing normal, you can’t recognize abnormal. If you become proficient in knowing the normal heart rate for your dog, cat, rabbit, goat, sheep, then you will know when its abnormal. A high or low heart rate alone is not going to tell you what’s wrong with an ill animal. But that information in combination with other signs can be invaluable through the process of achieving a diagnosis and treatment plan.
Build your tool chest and your confidence. The mere fact that you are here tells me that you are a learner. You err on the side of “having it and not needing it” rather than “needing it and not having it.” Amiright? And when it comes to animal husbandry, having know-how breeds confidence, suppresses panic, and liberates the joy of tending your creatures. Accurate heart rate measurement is a little bitta’ know-how, another tool you can shove in your back pocket or pack away neatly into your preparedness toolbox.
The one and only Charlotte - the most generously conditioned little Heeler x Jack Russell that never had her own food bowl
How to take a heart rate
It’s so easy! No stethoscope required. Just your hands and a clock’s second hand.
Charlotte graciously provides my subject for a live demonstration in the video. But for those of you like me, who love a good list, here it is in black and white.
With your animal in a sitting or standing position (laying down is more difficult), calmly orient yourself so that you and your animal are facing the same direction.
Approaching from the top (dorsum) of the animal, place your fingers on either side of the lower 25% of the chest, tucking them just behind the elbows.
Slowly adjust your hands until you feel the heart beating, which will be strongest under the fingers of your left hand.
Now, count beats per minute. Most simply, time yourself for one minute and count beats. That will give you the rate in beats per minute (bpm).
To shorten the counting time:
Count beats for 15 seconds, then multiply by 4
OR, count beats for 6 seconds, then multiply by 10
Example: 30 beats counted in 15 seconds = 30 x 4 = 120 bpm
Example: 12 beats counted in 6 seconds = 12 x 10 = 120 bpm
How to take a pulse
You can also determine an animal’s heart rate via their pulse, which is most easily palpated (felt) in smaller animals at the level of the femoral artery in the inguinal (groin) region. (This may be more challenging than it’s worth in larger animals with heavy hindlimb muscling.)
The pulse is the beat of the heart as felt through the walls of an artery. Here’s how:
With you and your standing animal facing the same direction, curve your fingers to the inside of either thigh and slide your fingers up until you bump into the belly.
When you can move up no further, press your fingers into the thigh and adjust if necessary until you feel a pulse beneath them. This is the femoral artery.
Count beats as in #4 above.
{This is splitting hairs for our purposes here, but there can be a difference between an animal’s heart rate and their pulse rate. So for you overachievers (I got your back *wink*), feel the heart rate and pulse simultaneously as demonstrated at the end of the video. What we want is for the two to beat in sync, i.e. a pulse for every heart beat. When this occurs, and usually it does in healthy animals, we say the “pulses are synchronous”.}
Thanks for hanging in there for my first video! I’m a words on paper kinda’ gal, so the video thing, uhhh….let’s just say it gets MY heart rate elevated. Not my fave. I’m working on it.
But I do hope this was informative and helpful, and that you’ll give taking a heart rate a shot this evening! Practice. Get comfortable with it. Know your animals’ normals. Use your hands and your mind. You can do more than you’ve been told.
Have questions? Leave a comment and I’ll get back to you!
Cheers friends.
Learn to Take the Heart Rate - Vet Habits for the Homestead, vol. 1